The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Summary

Six months before he died, fifty-year-old Stieg Larsson arrived at one of Sweden's oldest publishing houses with the manuscripts of two completed novels. One of them was Larsson's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, which was subsequently published in Swedish in 2005 (under the title Men Who Hate Women). Larsson, who devoted his life to investigative journalism, would never know how successful his novel would become, a bestseller first in Sweden, then in Europe, and finally in the United States.

Some critics have named the intelligent and unguessable twists in the plot as the reason for the novel's popularity. But Dick Adler, a reviewer for the Chicago Tribune, stressed Larsson's "unique and fascinating characters" for the book's success. First there is the twenty-four-year-old Lisbeth Salander, whom Adler describes as a type of "Pippi Longstocking," with a twist. Lisbeth is a young woman who knows how to hack computers, has body piercings and tattoos, and "a survival instinct that should scare anyone." Lisbeth is the star investigator of a private security firm in Stockholm. She teams up with Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist (like Larsson himself), who has been asked to solve a crime that occurred forty years ago.

It was forty years ago that sixteen-year-old Harriet Vanger disappeared. Her uncle, Henrik Vanger, a very rich industrialist, believes that Harriet was murdered, but he has not been able to prove this. Henrik thinks that someone in his family is the murderer. In the process of investigation, a forty-year history of the Vanger family is explored, exposing a complicated system of financial fraud as well as the Swedish society's link to Nazism and a general lack of morality, especially toward women.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is part of what is called the Millennium Trilogy. The second book of the trio is The Girl Who Played With Fire (2006) and the third in the series is The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest (2007). Over 20 million copies of the Millennium Trilogy have been sold worldwide. Film adaptations of all three books have been produced in Sweden and are being shown in theaters around the world. Many of the same main characters appear in all three novels.

Mikael Blomkvist is a journalist and co-publisher of Millennium, a left-wing Swedish magazine which is having some financial struggles. Hans-Erik Wennerstrom wins a libel suit against Blomkvist (though Wennerstrom actually is a corrupt billionaire businessman) and Blomkvist is sentenced to three months in jail. Blomkvist does not defend himself, for the story he published was fed to him by a source he should not have trusted and was, in fact, false. Despite that, Blomkvist knows Wennerstrom is a criminal and Blomkvist is determined to clear his name. Before he begins his prison sentence, he is approached by Henrik Vanger, CEO of the Vanger Corporation, and asked to conduct an investigation into an old family mystery.

Before hiring Blomkvist, Vanger hired Milton Security to conduct a thorough investigation into Blomkvist’s life; this investigation was conducted by a petite, reclusive, gothic girl named Lisbeth Salander. Sander has a troubled past and spent most of her teenage years in an institution; because of this, she trusts virtually no one and lives a life of secrecy and solitude. She has uncanny investigative skills and is a masterful computer hacker. Over time, Dragan Armansky, CEO of Milton Security, becomes an ally to both Blomkvist and Salander.

Vanger lives on Hedeby, an island near Stockholm, as do all of his family members. Almost forty years ago, Vanger’s favorite niece Harriet, the family member most likely to replace her uncle as CEO of the family business, disappeared and was presumably murdered by someone in the family. Vanger offers Blomkvist a significant fee and damning information about Wennerstrom if he will conduct an investigation into Harriet’s disappearance. Blomkvist accepts the offer and goes to live on the island after he serves his short prison term.

Because she was institutionalized for most of her teenage years, Salander is required by the court to have an appointed legal guardian who controls her finances and must approve any large expenses. Holger Palmgren is both her guardian and trusted friend; just as he is prepared to legally emancipate her from any kind of guardianship, he has a debilitating stroke and the change is not made. Nils Bjurman is appointed as her new guardian, but the first time she meets with him he takes sexual advantage of her, assuming she is weak and abusing his position of authority. He threatens her into silence with her own money.

When he violently rapes her the next time she has to see him, Salander is prepared. She records the episode and uses the tape to exact her revenge. It takes her some time to recover; however, once Bjurman is smug in his ability to control her, Salander visits his apartment when he is most vulnerable and demands he relinquish all control over her life. She abuses him in much the same way he abused her and then tattoos his chest, marking him as a rapist so he will not be able to hurt anyone else.

Blomkvist needs a research assistant, and he chooses Salander because she has managed to hack into his computer and has offered him anonymous clues to his investigation. They work well together, for Blomkvist allows Salander to be herself without placing any demands on her. They become lovers and soon discover much more than a potential murder by a family member motivated by money or jealousy. After examining folders, files, and photos, they both realize they are searching for a serial killer who has victimized women for more than forty years. One of the hallmarks of these murders is the use of scripture references from Leviticus.

Salander and Blomkvist are living in a cottage on the island, and soon they realize that someone has broken in and examined their research. Blomkvist visits several family members, all of whom had reason to want Harriet dead. In Vanger’s files, Blomkvist...

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On his eighty-second birthday, a flower is delivered as always. He calls Detective Superintendent Morell, who is now retired and living on Lake Siljan in Dalarna. The former policeman is expecting the call and asks the perfunctory questions. The flower is in a frame, it is postmarked from Stockholm, and the note is written in all capital letters. To these two old men, it is a “routine mystery.”

The flower this year is known as Desert Snow, a common flower in Australia but rare in Sweden. Still, it is difficult to track. Thirty years ago, this sending of flowers was part of an active national mystery; now only these two men and the sender have any interest in it. The retired policeman is not happy about leaving this case unresolved, and he is frustrated because he cannot be sure a crime was ever committed. The birthday boy looks at the display on the wall; this makes the forty-fourth framed flower. There are four rows of ten and now one row of four. Only the ninth spot in the top row is missing a framed flower. Unexpectedly, the policeman begins to weep—and is surprised by his sudden burst of emotion.

Part I: Incentive, December 20–January 3

Friday, December 20

Mikael Blomkvist is a journalist who rose to prominence when he discovered (accidentally) the hideout of a notorious gang of bank robbers. He is part owner of Millennium, a liberal political magazine, and he has just been convicted of libel and defamation charges. His sentence is three months in jail and a fine of 150,000 kroner for damages. The victim is businessman and financier Hans-Erik Wennerstrom, a very rich and powerful man in the world of international finance.

Blomkvist wrote an exposé on Wennerstrom based on information he received from an old classmate, Robert Lindberg, one night while they were both drinking. Lindberg is in the...

(The entire section is 636 words.)

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Dragan Armansky, a Swedish citizen, is of Croatian and Bosnian Muslim descent. He is dubbed “The Arab” because of his looks, although he has no Middle Eastern heritage. He is a “talented financial director” who has a gift for security. He earned his reputation by discovering one of his clients was being swindled by “creative bookkeeping” and then discovering who, out of a dozen suspects, was perpetrating the fraud. Now, at age fifty-six, he is the CEO of Milton Security, a company internationally recognized for its “cutting edge technology.” Armansky’s company specializes in everything from personal protection to international espionage.

Shortly after 5:00, Mikael Blomkvist finally shows up at the Millennium office. Erika Berger had been worried; now she is glad to see him. Janne Dahlman, the managing editor, has already left. That is just as well because Janne is competent at his job but sees only the negative in every situation. Christer Malm—part owner as well as art director and designer of the magazine—is off on a trip with his boyfriend. Berger has been feeling “disquiet” and senses things are about to explode.

In the weeks before the trial, Blomkvist had been walking around as if under a cloud of doom; his dejection after the trial is even worse. Berger reminds him...

Berger and Blomkvist consider their options—and their odds—for hours. On Christmas Eve Blomkvist finally convinces Berger it is best for everyone if he puts some distance between himself and Millennium, and he will work from home. The office is closed for the holidays, so he is surprised when the phone rings. It is Dirch Frode, a lawyer who represents a client who wants to meet with Blomkvist in person. Frode tells him his client is Henrik Vanger, who is eighty-two years old and cannot easily travel; he asks Blomkvist to take the train to Hedestad.

Henrik Vanger is a former industrialist, the head of Vanger Corporation, which includes...

For the first time in Henrik Vanger’s storytelling, Mikael Blomkvist is surprised. There was no mention of murder in any of the research he did. Vanger continues. On Saturday, September 24, 1966, the Vanger family was gathered at the house for their “loathsome annual dinner.” Because these events usually became opportunities to squabble over business, they were “pretty detestable affairs.” Sixteen-year-old Harriet had attended the local Children’s Day parade and arrived back on the island at about 2:00. At 2:15, a horrible accident occurred between a farmer and an oil truck on the bridge connecting the mainland and the island, resulting in a conflagration.

Henrik Vanger has examined every photo taken the day Harriet disappeared. She does not appear in any photo taken after 3:00 though virtually everyone else on the island is in many of the photos and their whereabouts are generally documented. In photos of the house taken before about 3:45, Harriet’s bedroom window is closed; after that time, the pictures show an open window. Vanger’s theory is that the “killer struck” at or around 3:00. He did not use a weapon (there was no blood), then he placed Harriet’s body in the trunk of his car. There was a path leading away from Vanger’s house and a car could easily have gone unnoticed. The extensive searches all concentrated on the...

Erika Berger watches as Mikael Blomkvist packs his suitcases and prepares to leave. She is incredulous that he is running away; he reminds her he will only be three hours away and will only be gone for one year—including the jail time he has to serve. Christer Malm listens to their exchange uncomfortably; it is the first time he has ever heard them disagree so vehemently. He sees a gulf opening between them and wonders if it is the beginning of the end for Millennium.

They ask his opinion about Blomkvist’s virtually abandoning the magazine. Malm is the third partner, but he knows the two of them are the real owners and it does not matter what he thinks. He feels as if...

Blomkvist arrives in Hedestad. It is frigid and he “suddenly feels lonely and uncertain.” His lodgings are in a house reserved for long-term guests—the same house in which he lived with his parents in 1963. It is small, tidy, and clean. Vanger gives him a tour of the village and says the official explanation for his presence is that he is here to help write Vanger’s autobiography.

They see Gunnar Nilsson, caretaker and son of the caretaker who was working in 1966. Vanger owns all the land on Hedeby, with a few exceptions. One of these is the small house owned by Eugen Norman, an eccentric artist in his late...

Blomkvist meets Martin, who accepts that he is here to write Henrik’s autobiography. Vanger shows the journalist an article gloating over the presumed demise of Millennium and descrying Erika Berger as a lightweight journalist and feminist. Vanger reminds Blomkvist that he should never pick a fight he cannot win but should also never allow an insult to go unpunished. Blomkvist gets out his tape recorder and asks Vanger to begin by telling him about each of his many family members.

Lisbeth Salander is hesitant to meet her new guardian, Nils Bjurman, for the second time. She is not afraid—she is rarely afraid—but she is uncomfortable. His...

This January is the coldest month in Hedeby on record; temperatures drop to –35° F. Blomkvist’s pipes freeze and he is near tears and ready to take the train and head south, but he stays and begins to develop friendships with people on the island.

He has a moose steak dinner with Martin and his “lady friend,” Eva; she is a lovely woman and a dentist who lives in Hedestad. They are long-time friends who began dating when they were middle-aged and now see no need to marry. She stays with Martin every weekend, but she jokes about not wanting to marry into “this crazy family.” Martin’s joys in life are music and cooking. He is...

The weather is nice, so Blomkvist and Berger go for a walk. Vanger sees them and invites them in; he recognizes Berger and they chat charmingly before discussing business, two heads of companies. Vanger knows publishing because his family once owned six newspapers and still owns one. He asks Berger one question: was there a story? She tells him there was but “it was a different story.” Blomkvist berates himself for listening to an old friend. Vanger offers to become a partner in Millennium because he has the money and it will be a good investment. His one condition is that Blomkvist return as publisher.

Salander has enough physical evidence to convict her guardian of rape: bruises on her neck and his DNA on her body and clothing. Even if Bjurman claims she wanted to have sex with him, he is her guardian and would be convicted. Such an accusation might even reopen her case because the term “legally incompetent” (how Salander has been designated) can no longer be used for adults. Trusteeship is much less controlling than guardianship is, and that would be her best outcome. A guardian has the freedom to determine how stringently the laws will be applied. Palmgren allowed her almost complete freedom; Bjurman exercises the strictest control.

Salander begins examining her guardian as if he were a client; she spends sixteen hours a day on her research. Nothing in his personal life or in his position as a trustee and guardian shows Nils Bjurman to be anything but an upstanding citizen and lawyer. Now she has no choice—he must “simply disappear from her life.” She reflects that heart attacks do not just happen to fifty-three-year-old men, even if they are disgusting, “but that sort of thing could be arranged.”

Blomkvist’s affair with Cecilia continues on her terms. Outside of her house she acts cool and distant but friendly; in the bedroom she is vibrant and passionate. He feels a bit...

Salander spends the next three days in bed before researching the psychopathology of sadism. Her research reveals Bjurman is a sick man, much different than the kind of man for which she had been prepared, though her only tears that night were tears of pain. Sadists, she discovers, prefer their victims to come voluntarily to them because they feel they have no choice. Salander is Bjurman’s victim. This observation makes her realize what she must be projecting to other people. Friday she visits a tattoo parlor to get a small tattoo on the thin skin of her ankle. It will hurt, but she will not mind. It will serve as a reminder.

Blomkvist is released on parole from prison on May 16 after only two months. The experience was “unstressful and pleasant enough.” He got to keep his computer and spent the time writing. Upon his release, Blomkvist goes directly back to his cabin in Hedeby, where he is greeted by the cat that has become part of his existence here.

He calls Berger but gets no answer. When Vanger sees Blomkvist, he gives him an unexpected hug. They have dinner together. Vanger is excited about working with the magazine. After dinner, Blomkvist goes to visit Cecilia. She is surprised and upset when she sees him; she...

After six months of thinking and questioning with no luck, Blomkvist finally has a breakthrough in Harriet’s case. There are three new pieces to the puzzle; he discovered two of them and got help with the third. After spending three hours looking at photos, he has a sudden insight. Most of the investigative attention has been given to the photos of the accident on the bridge; however, Blomkvist is arrested by the first photo taken of Harriet at the Children’s Day parade. It was probably taken from a first-floor window somewhere along the parade route. The crowd is doing what most crowds do—following the activities and sights around them. Some are looking at one thing,...

The third clue in Harriet’s case comes to Blomkvist unexpectedly. He stops at Cecilia’s to see why she lied to the police about being in Harriet’s room the day Harriet disappeared. No one answers the door, but behind him he hears someone say, “Your whore isn’t home.” Blomkvist turns around to see Harald, splotched with liver spots, wearing his pajamas and dressing gown and carrying a cane. He is the picture of a “nasty old man.” Blomkvist stands nose-to-nose with him and defends Cecilia to her father before walking away from the old man.

When he tells Vanger about the confrontation, Vanger is not surprised. As a young lady, Cecilia fell in love...

Salander wakes with a start when the doorbell rings at 9:30 in the morning—something no one she knows ever does. Mikael Blomkvist invites himself into her home. He has bagels. She fumes that they do not even know each other, but he insists she knows him well. After she showers they talk. She likes discovering other people’s secrets, and he seems to know a few of hers. Blomkvist explains that he talked to Dragan Armansky, her boss, because he needs a skilled researcher to help him on a project. He wants Salander to help him find a murderer.

It takes Blomkvist an hour to explain everything, including Cecilia Vanger’s face in the window and the mysterious list of names and...

Vanger’s condition is improving, but he looks ten years older. Blomkvist feels an unexpected tenderness for him. He tells the old man he has some new leads he is following, and he will have something more to tell him soon. Vanger tells Blomkvist he must finish even if Vanger dies before the mystery is resolved. Birger and Cecilia are both at the hospital and both of them get angry at Blomkvist for upsetting their uncle. Frode comes to call on his client and friend; he says he will back Blomkvist in honoring Vanger’s wishes but feels as if “a storm is brewing.”

Martin is the next to show up at the hospital. He is also upset that the journalist has upset his...

Blomkvist visits Frode and learns that Vanger’s condition has improved. Everyone is thankful he is no longer in critical condition. The journalist confirms with the lawyer that, though Martin will take Vanger’s place on the Millennium board if anything happens to his uncle, he will not be allowed to interfere in any significant way, as Blomkvist fears he might. Off the record, Frode tells Blomkvist that Vanger Corporation is in trouble and getting worse. Martin has been pushing for Blomkvist to abandon his uncle’s project of investigating Harriet’s disappearance, probably at Cecilia’s prompting.

Salander has hacked Blomkvist’s computer for his files on Harriet and added his information to the information she has already gathered. Martin comes to visit with bad news—the Hedestad Courier has published an article about the fact that Mikael Blomkvist, the “convicted libel journalist,” is residing in Hedeby. The article is slanted and unflattering and potentially damaging to Millennium. Martin is appalled to discover that one of his own family members, Birger, is the one who ordered that the piece be written. Blomkvist is unperturbed and thinks it is absurd that Birger is attacking a magazine with such close family connections. Martin makes...

Salander takes photos of the “macabre tableau” of the mutilated cat before Blomkvist clears it all away. She sees it as a warning and suspects Harald or Isabella because they are the right age. Blomkvist does not agree; he reasons that it is more likely someone from the younger generation. Salander leaves for Stockholm to “pick up some gadgets” for their protection. She tells Blomkvist to purchase two smoke alarms and two fire extinguishers while she is gone.

Blomkvist meets with Frode and asks him some questions. Blomkvist explains that while he was in Stockholm, his office was broken into and someone saw his list of Bible references hanging on the wall and the photos he...

Blomkvist awakens early and ponders Salander’s tattoos as she sleeps. His next thoughts are of Harriet. Whoever Harriet thought was a threat then is too old to be the current threat. Blomkvist believes Cecilia was telling the truth when she denied being the woman in the window, so he re-examines the photos. Suddenly he notices Greger Vanger also had a camera on that day. Blomkvist also realizes Salander is so effective as a researcher because she has a photographic memory. When he tells her he knows about her memory, “her reaction is almost explosive.” She looks at him with fury in her eyes before she runs off. Blomkvist easily finds her, and she explains that she feels like a freak when...

Martin finds the key to Gottfried’s cabin in Blomkvist’s pocket. When Blomkvist asks Martin why he does such evil things, Martin answers, “because it’s so easy.” Women disappear all the time and no one misses them, he says. Blomkvist is shocked to realize that Martin is still killing women. Martin tells him his latest victim, Irina from Belarus, was actually locked in the cage all winter.

He disposes of the bodies by taking them out to sea; unlike his father, he leaves no traces of his victims. In contrast, Gottfried “spread his victims out all over Sweden.” Martin learned from his father. The first murder he just watched; the...

While Blomkvist sleeps, Salander goes back to Martin’s basement to examine and photograph the crime scene. She finds pornographic magazines, torture devices, and Polaroid photos in albums. She does not find a diary, but she does find passport photos and handwritten notes about each of Martin’s victims. She takes it all and his computer. She reads everything that night, wondering how such a thing could happen: one or two women have been murdered every year for fifteen years without anyone actively searching for a killer. She discovers the victims were often new arrivals in the country or immigrants—the outcasts, the friendless, and the troubled.

Blomkvist flies to Alice Springs, Australia, and rents a car for the last 250 miles of his journey. He is going to the place Trinity found after tracing Anita’s phone conversation, a sheep farm called Cochran Farm. He did some research before coming to Australia, and he discovered that Spencer Cochran inherited the farm from his father but died in 1994. His widow now runs the farm. The couple was married in 1971, and her name is Anita. Blomkvist calls Berger in New York to tell her his work for Vanger is nearly completed.

When he gets to the farm, he explains he is looking for Anita Cochran; one of the hands offers to drive him. When they finally arrive,...

Blomkvist takes Salander to her mother’s funeral and stays by her side. When the ceremony begins, they are the only two in attendance besides the pastor. Armansky comes in and puts his hand on her shoulder, which she acknowledges with a nod, then ignores both men. Salander does not speak a word. On their drive to Hedeby, Blomkvist tells her about finding Harriet and hearing her story.

Salander is furious that Harriet could have done something back in 1966 that would have prevented so many women’s being raped and killed by Martin over the past thirty-seven years. Blomkvist tries to explain Harriet’s lack of choices, but Salander has no sympathy. She even...

Blomkvist has been looking at the boxes of data Salander has gathered on Wennerstrom: companies, accounts, funds, securities. All of them are interconnected in a labyrinthine structure. Salander explains she placed an electronic cuff (Plague’s invention; she volunteered to test it for him) on Wennerstrom’s broadband cable, and all the data on his computer comes to her. Blomkvist receives a call that Janne Dahlman is on holiday and was seen with someone from a rival financial magazine—one owned by the Wennerstrom group. Blomkvist and Salander go to the Millennium offices and access Dahlman’s computer. He has been spying for Wennerstrom since at least last...

Salander has spent four weeks relentlessly pursuing her idea. Because Blomkvist has also been busy, they have had only intermittent contact. She keeps going over the details to be certain everything is correct, but she is still not sure she understands how it is all connected. Wennerstrom is rich but not as rich as the analysts say he is. He has some large, legitimate, Swiss and American holdings—but he is also involved in the illegal weapons trade, money laundering, and other unorthodox business dealings in Russia and Colombia. He also has an offshore bank account.

When she sees an e-mail from Wennerstrom asking if the rumors about Millennium...

Millennium’s story on Wennerstrom takes up forty-six pages of the magazine and “explodes like a bombshell” the last week in November. It has a joint byline: Erika Berger and Mikael Blomkvist. The rest of the media is not sure what to do because the last article on Wennerstrom was so disastrous and the magazine’s level of credibility in this area is so low. While the Swedish news media waits, the rest of the world takes the story and runs it everywhere. Finally the truth has been revealed, and the Millennium staff celebrates.